It all seemed to begin with getting back to the city after around ten days of near bliss at Flowerbook. The contrast is usually pronounced, but this time for some reason, the vibes were even worse than they usually are. Maybe the increased security checks after the Ratmalana bomb blast had something to do with it, or maybe it was the heat and humidity that contrasted intensely from the cool, dry climate of the hills I had recently departed from, or maybe it was the new Notebook with Vista instead of the usual XP that lent to the unmistakable sensation that all was not quite as well as it should be.

As the first day went by the heat and humidity persisted outside the inner-cool of the workspace, the uniformed presence at the checkpoints seemed to intensify as I got stopped a lot more than is usually the case and the Notebook with Vista continued to be stubbornly unlike the smooth going I experienced with XP in the past. And although this must surely not be a reflection on the quality or performance of Vista, it did much to add to the general bum vibe.

The weekend was so-so, which indicates that it wasn’t all that bad, but by no means as outstanding as it often is – probably something to do with buddies being away for the extended weekend. Java also chose not to alter the flow with his presence – which of course could well have changed the way things were – no telling for better or for worse. So Friday night at the ‘Blues’ found me spacing out and shooting pool for most of the night. The crowd was cool with a few familiar faces around. Saturday night saw The Dancer and me taking her favourite baby girl and parents to Casa Colombo for dinner. And that was rather a trip!

The Casa is an ancient mansion that I remember from childhood, situated as it used to be, set off from the Galle Road across its large garden. It always had that crumbling haunted look, but I hadn’t noticed it during the past few years and the reason for this was that the garden area has been hocked and is now chock full of shops and other ordinary looking buildings. The mansion itself had, apparently, been used as some government department until it was acquired by the present proprietor, who has (and I don’t use the phrase lightly) ‘gone to town’ with it. I mean, it is sooo over the top in sooo many ways that it actually seems to work! Describing it is no easy feat and I won’t even begin to try. Suffice it to say, it is well worth a visit. The food was…good, I guess, and unless you bring your own, there is no booze available right now, as the license has yet to be got.

The Casa has around eight rooms available – all ultra-grand in their own very special way. The ‘luxury suite’, if I remember right, goes at around US$ 600. Again, I will not even attempt to describe the interiors – you just have to be there! It’s all very well planned inside the rooms, as far as accessories go, with Apple Notebooks, swiveling Nakamichi super-slim TVs and sound setups with IPods full of the latest films, copper baths and all manner of other trippy numbers happening. But like I said – difficult to do justice by description.

Aaannyways, that did add a little something to the general trip and although I did get copped for making an illegal U turn whilst looking for the Casa earlier on, I managed to get out of the god-awful process of retrieving my license by sweet-talking the cop into taking what change I had in exchange for not writing me up. My very first time of paying off one of Colombo’s finest. And that did give me a bit of a lift.

I’m still settling into operating Vista, although there still remains somewhat of a minor glitch, which I hope to sort out through mates that know their shit, sporadic rains have eased the heat, I wasn’t stopped once in the past three days and last evening was a verrry cool happening with close mates, so things do appear to be looking up.